Marching to Raise the Visibility of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Executive Director

Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition

Originally Posted February 13, 2019Share:

On February 14th, hundreds of people will gather in Minneapolis along with other communities around the state of Minnesota to honor the Indigenous girls, women, boys, two spirit and transgender relatives who have gone missing or murdered.

Indigenous women and girls experience violence at disproportionately high rates–it is estimated that 84% of Indigenous women experience violence in their lifetime and that murder is the third-leading cause of death. This violence has gone largely unacknowledged, with missing and murdered women and girls literally falling off the radar–missing persons reports never filed, no media coverage, and lack of response or recording of these cases by police and other jurisdictions.

This violence and the invisibility of Indigenous women is the legacy of deeply-rooted patriarchal systems, settler colonialism, and genocide. Please join us in raising the visibility of this crisis and the visibility of Indigenous women and girls. Some suggestions are outlined below.

How to Get Involved

Learn more about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. [see below for some resources]

Join in Solidarity. Can’t travel to Minnesota? Join in solidarity from wherever you are. Wear RED on February 14th, the day of the march, make a sign showing your solidarity, take a photo with your sign and share via social media, tagging @MIWSAC. Ideas for signage include:Justice for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and GirlsVisibility for Indigenous Women and Girls #MMIW

Across this nation, countless Indigenous women and girls are disappearing or being murdered each year. In fact, Indigenous women and girls experience violence at disproportionately high rates–it is estimated that 84% of Indigenous women experience violence in their lifetime and that murder is the third-leading cause of death.

This violence has gone largely unacknowledged, with missing and murdered women and girls literally falling off the radar–missing persons reports never filed, no media coverage, and lack of response or recording of these cases by police and other jurisdictions. This violence and the invisibility of Indigenous women is the legacy of deeply-rooted patriarchal systems, settler colonialism, and genocide.

Below we have compiled some resources that help shed light on this issue. We will continue to add to this resource and welcome suggestions to add, please email info@movetoendviolence.org.

What We Know

84 percent of Indigenous women experience violence in their lifetime.

Murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women, according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is estimated that rates of violence on reservations can be up to ten times higher that the national average.

Day of Awareness and Action. May 5th as been designated as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. The resolution was drafted in memory of Hanna Harris (Northern Cheyenne) who was murdered in July 2013 and first introduced in April 2016, the same day that RoyLynn Rides Horse (Crow) passed away after having been beaten, burned, and left in a field to die. Nearly 200 tribal, national, and state organizations supported this resolution. (Source and Source)

Federal Legislation. At the end of January 2019, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has re-introduced legislation (known as Savanna’s Act — named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year old Indigenous woman who was abducted and killed in North Dakota in 2017.) that would boost coordination and data collection among tribal, local, state and federal law enforcement in cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and would require the departments of Justice, Interior, and Health and Human Services to seek recommendations from tribes on enhancing the safety of Indigenous women. (Source)

State Legislation. Several states, including Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota, have just introduced legislation that would support the establishment of inter-agency task forces to address this issue of missing and murdered women and girls in their states. The state of Washington House Bill 2951 which was signed into law in 2018, requires study of how state and tribal law enforcement should work together with tribes and urban Native organizations, as well as the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs, to better identify and report cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women within the state. (Source)

Mapping and Data Collection. Annita Lucchesi, a cartographer and doctoral student at the University of of Lethbridge’s Cultural, Social and Political Thought program, has created and published an online database to log cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and two spirit people. She began populating the database in 2015. To date, Lucchesi has logged more than 2500 cases dating from 1900 with the majority in the last twenty years.

Nicole Matthews

Executive Director

Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition

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Nicole Matthews is Anishinabe from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and has worked to end violence against women and children for more than 15 years. She is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition. Aprenda más

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